Leaning wheel road scraper



June 23, 1931. w. T. BEAT TY ET AL LEANING WHEEL ROAD SCRAPER Filed Nov. 10, 1923 4 Sheets-Sheet l I 113K072?) i'mdjjywlb 54 J. 17 171700 June 23, 1931. w. T. BEATTY ET AL LEANIN'G WHEEL ROAD SCRAPER Filed Nov. 10, 1923 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 N2 4 sm QENR June 23, 1931.

w. T. 'BEATTY ET AL LEANING WHEEL ROAD SCRAPER Filed Nov. 10, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 7%"66i J7. Wa'lsm June 23, 1931. w. T. BEATTY ET AL LEANING WHEEL ROAD SCRAPER Filed Nov. 10, 1923 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented June 23, 1931 VUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WILLIAMhT. BEATTYQQI FLQSSMOOR, FRANK S. DAVIS, OI HOMEWOOD, AND FRED D.

. itson, QFHARVEY, ILLINOIS, nssrenon s 'IO AUSTIN manurnowunrne do, or QHIGAGO, ILLINoIs, A oonronn'rron OF ILLINOIS tannins WHEEL Roan SCRAPER Application filed November.10;1 923i Serial No. 673,907.

This invention relates to road working machines, particularly scrapers of the leaning wheel type. The object of the invention is to provide a compact, comparatively cheap and highly eificient'mechanism for use par.- ticularly in connection with the rear Wheels of such machine, by which the wheels may be at the will of the operator selectively inclined or extended as desired.

The invention consists in means for attaining the foregoing and otherobjects, having special advantages and details of construction which will be hereafter more fully set forth in the specification and claims.

Referring to the drawings in which like numerals designate the same parts through out the several views Figure 1 is-a plan View of a road scraper equipped with the mechanism of this invention in its preferred form, operators station platform 75 being omitted for clearness.

Figure 2 is a sideelevation of the machine of Figure '1. i i

Figure 3 is a rear viewof the machine taken from the right hand side ?of F igures 1 and 2, showing one-half of the axle in extended position and the wheels in inclined position. i v

Figure 4 is a transverse, sectional, detail view, largely in section, on the irregular lineof Figural. Figure 5 is an enlarged, plan view on the line 55 of Figure 3. r Figure 6 is a s'de' View on the line 66 of Figure-5." I 1 i i "Figure 7 is asectionalelevation on the line 7+7of-Figure 1.

' Figure Sis a detailed planview on the line 8 8'of Figure 7.

Figure 9 is a'sectional detailv view onthe line 9- 9 of Figure 7. r ,Figme 10 isa transverse, sectional, detail view on the line 10 10 of FigureT.

7 The niec'hani's m-of this inventionis shown applied to the rearwheels 140']? a more or less conventional'form ofgrader, havingthe mainframe 16 and front wheels 18 themselves tiltableby the operation of a conventional handlemechanism 20, said'grader being equipped with a" scraper blade 22, selectively controllable in a conventional manner by the use of hand wheels 24 and 26 operating connecting rods 28, rocker arms 30 and connecting rods 32. f g

The rear ends of the side frame members 16 are connected by any suitable means, as, for instance, end flanges 34 to a hollow housing made up of three parts: 3688-36, each adjacent two of the parts thereof being detachably secured together by any suitable means as, forinstance, the bolts 40; Reciprocatable through this housing there are two horizontally disposed, rectangular axles 42 and 44, placed one above the other, engaging bearing plates 4648 and 50, provided for their use. Outside the housing described, axle .42 extends to one side of the machine and carries the left side rear wheel 14,while axle 44 extends in the opposite direction and carries the right rear wheel 14. The central section 38 of the housing is, as clearly shown in Figures 1 and 5-, made of larger,horizontal crosssection than the other parts 36 of the housing and of sufficient width to receive and protect two separated gears 52 and 54mounted',frespectively, on independent shafts 56' and 58. Gear 52 interfits with rack 60 on the adjacent side ofaxle 42," while gear 54 interfits with therack on the adjacent side of axle 44. Each of these shafts 56 and 58 carries inside the housing its own independent worm wheel 62 meshing with worm 64, independently journaled upon the-adjacent 'p'ortionfof a horizontally-"disposed rod or shaft 66, mounted in the-housing casting. Each worm 64 carries its own bevel pinion-68, meshing with another bevelpinion 70." The pinion belonging to shaft. 56 is rigid on thelower end of a vertically disposed, rotatable wrench socket 72, engageable by a wrench not shown for-ultimately operating shaft 56 andconsequently axle} 42. Similarly, thegear 70, be-

longing to shaft 58, is rigid upon a corresponoling wrench socket shaft 74,-selectively engageableI-to rotate shaft-58, and conse quentlyreciprocateaxle44. :The result of this construction is that when :theoperator has his wrenchtin socket 72 and rotates the wrench, he causes the rear wheel 14 on horizontal axle 42 to move inor out cross-Wise of the machine, as desired, and that by placing his wrench in socket 74, he can secure the same reciprocation of the opposite rear wheel of the machine. These wrench sockets 72 and 74 are as clearly shown in Fig. 2 directly behind the platform or station 75 on which the operator stands while driving the ma chine and from which he can manipulate the wrench in a selected one of said sockets as just described.

The outer end of each axle 42 and 44 is rigidly secured by any suitable means, not specifically entering into the invention, to a hollow wheel support 76, carrying at its outer edge a horizontal shaft 78 on which the adj acent hub 80 of an adjacent rear wheel of the machine is rockably supported. Rigid with the hub 80 of such rear wheel and rocking with it on shaft 7 8 is a segmental worm gear 82 meshing with a vertically disposed worm 84, mounted on shaft 86, carrying at its upper end a beveled gear 88. This latter gear 88 meshes with a bevel pinion 90 rigid on a non-circular, usually a squared actuator shaft 92, slidable through but non-rotatable in another actuator shaft 94 journaled in a gear case 96, positioned as shown at the longitudinal center of the machine. Inside this case 96 and rigid on shaft 94 is a worm wheel 98 meshing with a vertically disposed worm 100, provided at its center with a wrench socket perforation 102, adapted to be engaged by a suitable wrench which, when applied through the mechanism described rotates shaft 94, thence shaft 92 and thereby through the gearing described, the segmental gears 82 to rock the adjacent rear wheels 14. The wrench referred to is applied by an operator preferably riding on station platform 75.

The foregoing description makes it clear that each rear wheel 14 of the machine is operatively connected to one of two aligned, non-circular shafts 92 which are in turn operated in unison by the wrench applied in a socket 102. These shafts 92 fit sufliciently freely inside the shaft 94 so that said shafts 92 may be rotated at the will of the operator in any position which the operator may place or have placed either rear wheel of the machine, through the application of a wrench to sockets 72 or 74, as the case may be. Corresponding parts of the gearing mechanisms connecting the outer ends of the respective shaft-s 92 to adjacent rear wheels of the machine are of the same proportions, with the result that rotation of wrench controlled worm 100 causes the wheels 14 to always incline parallel to each other whenever they are as shown in Figure 3 out of normal vertical position as shown in Figure 5.

Owing to the well known fact that a worm gear mechanism is self-locking except when the screw or worm is normally rotated, the

, worm 84 and the gear 82 combination adj acent to each rear wheel of the machine serves to lock and hold each wheel in its adjusted upright position without any assistance from the shaft 92 mechanism with the beneficial result that the operating parts between the two gears 88 may be made of much lighter construction and therefore more cheaply than would otherwise be the case.

In the same manner, each worm wheel 62 and intermeshing worm acts as a lock to hold the particular rear wheel 14 controlled by it in each position across the machine in which it may be placed. An important advantage of this arrangement is that the strains and torque created by the tilted wheels are taken care of by the worm wheels 84, thereby relieving the shaft sections 92 and 94 of all frictional strain so that said shafts may be readily and easily rotated.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In mechanism of the class described, in combination with a grader frame, a hollow gear housing carried by the frame, a horizontally reciprocable axle slidable through the gear housing, gearing in the housing for reciprocating the axle, a hollow wheel support on an end of said axle which extends beyond the frame, a traction wheel pivoted on a horizontal shaft carried by the wheel support, a gear rigid with the wheel, inside the wheel support, a worm inside the wheel support meshing with the gear, and means operable in all positions of the axle for operating the worm to incline the wheelwith reference to the frame.

2. In mechanism of the class described, in combination with a grader frame, a hollow gear housing carried by the frame, a horizontally reciprocable axle slidable through the gear housing, gearing in the housing for reciprocating the axle, a hollow wheel support on an end of said axle which extends beyond the frame, a traction wheel pivoted on a horizontal shaft carried by the wheel support, a gear rigid with thewheel, inside the wheel support,a worm inside the wheel support meshing with the gear, means operable in all positions of the axle for operating the worm to incline the wheel with reference to the frame, another correspondingly mounted traction wheel for theframe parallel to the first, and a single always operable means for simultaneously rotating the worms of the respective wheelsto incline said wheels in unison, in the same direction.

3. In a road scraper, a pair of axles supported so as to be longitudinally adjustable with respect to each other, vertically tiltable wheels on the'outer ends of said axles, selflocking tilting means engaging the respective wheels and including rotatable members,

and actuating means for operating said rotatable members to simultaneously adjust said wheels, said rotatable members being lie supported independently of the actuating means so as to relieve the last mentioned means of frictional strain.

4. In a road scraper, a pair of axles supported so as to be longitudinally adjustable with respect to each other, vertically tiltable wheels on the outer ends of said axles, an actuating means, worm shafts mounted on said axles independently of the actuating means so as to relievethe last mentioned means of frictional strain, means carried by said wheels and cooperating with said worm shafts to provide self-locking wheel tilting means, and means op eratively connectingsaid actuating means with said worm shafts.

5. In a road scraper, a pair of axles sup-' ported so as to be longitudinally adjustable with respect to each other, vertically tiltable wheels on the outer ends of said axles, actuator shafts supported so as to be longitudinally adjustable with respect to each otherto correspond to the adjustments of said axles, worm shafts mounted on said axles independently of'the actuator shafts so as to relieve the last mentioned shafts of frictional strain, means carried by said wheels and 00- operating with said worm shafts to provide self-locking wheel tilting means, means operatively connecting the actuator shafts with said worm shafts, and means for simultaneously operating said actuator shafts. V

In witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names.

WILLIAM T. BEATTY.

FRANK S. DAVIS.

FRED D. WILSON. 

